Thirteen - Myst Fernandes

Myst was more than a little excited. Anima had been his favorite band for pretty much his entire life. They were the reason he became a musician in the first place. Going on tour with them was something he had dreamed of for years. He could hardly believe it was really happening.

"I hope Jellal is doing alright," he murmured. It had only been a day. How badly could he possibly be doing? "There's no turning back now," he told himself. "Jellal will be fine."

"Next stop: Edolas City," the train conductor announced.

Myst was ready to get off before they even reached the station. He didn't bring much with him. He planned to stay in disguise the whole time, so he didn't need extra clothes. He vaguely wondered what he would do if the clothes he was wearing got torn. Maybe he would have needed that Home Economics class he signed up for.

The only reason he had taken it was because he knew that Jellal would be there in his place. He had overheard Erza talking about taking the class as well. In fact, he had tried his best to line up the classes Jellal would be taking with the ones Erza was signing up for. Siegrain probably wasn't happy about that, but Myst didn't really care. Sieg could be a dick and Jellal deserved to have a little more happiness in his life.

"Erza had better choose correctly," he sighed.

"Excuse me?" a voice asked, sounding a bit offended.

Myst turned to see who had spoken and was shocked to see a familiar girl standing in the aisle.

"Erza?" he asked, standing up.

"Who are you?" she asked. "How do you know me?"

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "Shouldn't you be at school?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business," she said, crossing her arms. "But I took the year off to follow the Anima tour."

Myst was confused. "I didn't know you even listened to Anima," he said.

"I think just about everyone in Edolas does," she countered.

"Edolas?" he repeated. "Wait. You're Erza Scarlet, right?"

She made a scoffing sound and put her hands on her hips. "Scarlet? What kind of stupid name is that?"

"Who are you then?" he asked.

"Erza Knightwalker," she said.

"No way," he breathed incredulously.

"Who is Erza Scarlet?" she asked.

"She- are you serious?" he asked. "You're not messing with me?"

"I don't even know you," she said. "I'm pretty sure I don't, at least. I can't actually see you. I don't recognize you by your eyes, in any case. What's with the weird face coverings? And stupid pants?"

"You're less polite than Erza Scarlet," Myst pointed out.

"Who the hell is Erza Scarlet?" Erza Knightwalker demanded loudly, causing a few other passengers to look around.

Myst shrugged. "A girl I know that looks just like you," he said. "Obviously, you're not the same."

"So, there's a girl that looks like me and has the same name as me?" she asked. "That seems unlikely."

Myst shrugged again. "Maybe you're long-lost twins."

"With the same name?" she asked derisively.

"Maybe," he said. "My parents thought my brothers and I were twins and they only had two names picked out. I was almost named J- the same as my brother, until they realized there were three of us."

"You're a triplet?" she said. "There are two other weirdos like you?"

"We look the same. We're not alike."

"What do you three look like then?" she asked, reaching for his mask.

He grabbed her wrist and halted her progress. He felt a strange spark as she scowled up at him.

"I don't see how that's any of your business," he said. She tried to pull out of his grasp, but he didn't let her. She's Erza, he thought. But, she's not. I feel weird.

"Let me go," she commanded.

"I'll see you later," he said, releasing her arm.

"Don't count on it," she huffed, turning and walking away. Her ponytail swished behind her and Myst couldn't help but watch her walk.

What is wrong with me? he wondered. I've never had this reaction to Erza Scarlet. Sure, she's beautiful, but I've never had feelings for her.

Erza Knightwalker sat down in her seat, crossing her arms and glaring at Myst, who was still watching her. The train came to a shuddering stop and a few passengers, including Erza, got up to leave. Erza shoved past Myst as he made his way to the door. He just smirked behind his mask and let her disembark before him. When he stepped onto the platform, he saw her join two guys and a short girl.

"Oh look!" the girl said. "Isn't that Mystogan?"

"Why would he be here, Coco?" Erza asked, looking around. "And how do you even know what he looks like?"

"I saw his picture on the Anima website," Coco said, pointing at Myst. "I don't think anyone else would dress like that."

Erza locked eyes with Myst. Once she realized that Coco was speaking of him, she looked pissed. "You have got to be fucking kidding me," she said. "He is Mystogan?"

Myst waved casually at her.

"You met him already?" one of the guys asked. "No fair, Knightwalker!"

"Calm down, Sugarboy," the other guy said. "You'll meet him later."

"Hughes, go get me his autograph," Sugarboy said.

"Get it yourself," Hughes scoffed.

"Did you really meet him?" Coco asked Erza.

"On the train," the redhead responded, still glowering as he passed by her. "I can't believe this."

"I told you that I'd see you later, Erza," he said, hoping the smirk was evident in his voice. It seemed to be, because she narrowed her eyes. "For the whole tour, in fact."

"Did he just call Knightwalker 'Erza'?" Sugarboy whispered to Hughes.

"Can we call you 'Erza' now?" Hughes asked.

Myst heard her telling them off as he walked away. He made a mental note to always call her by her first name. It pleased him to irritate her, though he wasn't sure why. Maybe he was a bit like Siegrain after all. He sighed, but then smiled.

"This is going to be fun."